Pasadena ISD officer cleared in alleged beating

A Harris County grand jury on Thursday cleared a Pasadena ISD school resource officer accused of beating a student with a nightstick, apparently without hearing from the victim, the teen's lawyer said.

Pasadena Independent School District officer Michael Y'Barbo will not face criminal charges in the alleged beating of then-16-year-old Cesar Suquet Jr. in May 2014, an incident recorded on school surveillance cameras.

"It's sad," said Mark Montgomery, one of the attorneys for the teen. "I think excessive force was clear on the videotape. It just goes to show you how the system is."

Montgomery said the teen had met with prosecutors and was available to testify in front of the grand jury had he been called.

Prosecutors noted that it is illegal to discuss what happens, or does not happen, in the secrecy of the grand jury room but spoke about the case generally.

"We presented everything to the grand jury and made sure they fully understood the facts and the law, and they handed down their decision," said Julian Ramirez, chief of the civil rights division of the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

A lawyer for the Pasadena officer said grand jurors made the right decision.

"The school district police reviewed it, an outside expert reviewed it, and no one said it was unreasonable," said Greg Cagle, who represents Y'Barbo. "It was still within the Constitutional parameters of force."

Cagle, who regularly represents police officers accused of excessive force, said the law gives officers a range of reasonable force, which is emphasized in training.

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"The use of the impact weapon was within the training," Cagle said. "The force can continue until the arrest is effected."

He said the officer was within his rights to continue hitting, even if the teen was on the ground, if he was not complying with officer's commands.

Lawyers for the teen said that video of the incident showed excessive force.

"You don't hit somebody 15 to 25 times with a metal stick at 3 o'clock in the afternoon when he's not resisting you," Montgomery said. Release of that video was blocked in a federal lawsuit that was settled last month, for $60,000. It is unlikely to ever be shown in open court since the officer was not charged.

Suquet was 16 when he went to the principal's office at South Houston High School to retrieve his cellphone, which had been confiscated, on May 29, 2014. After his request was declined, Suquet had argued loudly and persistently to get the phone back and was told to leave the office or face arrest for trespassing.

As he was escorted out of the building by Y'Barbo and an assistant principal, the teen uttered profanity.

Y'Barbo told the student that he was under arrest and attempted to handcuff him. Suquet claimed he never heard commands from the officer but turned to see him swinging a metal nightstick.

The teen was hit at least 18 times, including nine blows while he was on the ground.

Entered into the court record as part of discovery, the footage was under a federal nondisclosure agreement, Montgomery said. It could have been presented in open court to a jury if the case had not settled.

Photographs taken by Suquet's parents that night show bruises and cuts.